Opened up my mailbox the other day and was excited to receive the 2012 Nebraska Wine Growers Passport. Every year, the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association promotes wineries throughout the state by offering a passport program. With each Nebraska winery visit, you get a stamp in your passport. If you get passport stamps from 17 different wineries and 5 tasting rooms, you qualify to receive $50 in Wine Bucks. If you go to all 31 participating locations, you get $75 in Wine Bucks. Wine Bucks are valid at all Nebraska wineries and are good for Nebraska wine purchases only.
You can download the Nebraska Winery Passport here – or – just visit any of the 31 particpating wineries in Nebraska and they should have one available. Each passport brochure has a map and all winery addresses, phone numbers and web sites so that you can plan ahead. This makes a great weekend road trip – and you’ll be suprised to find that Nebraska wines are quite wonderful.
I’ve already started the Nebraska wine journey with two stamps – one from Miletta Vista Winery in the Sandhills and the other from Prairie Creek Vineyards in Central City. Both have fabulous wines that fit most any taste. If you love a nice summer white, try the Cougarlicious at Miletta Vista. Meow.
This past weekend, I read an article in the New York Times “Sunday Review” section called “The Joy of Quiet.” On every vacation my husband and I plan, we look for ways to literally “disconnect” from the wired and wireless world and reconnect with ourselves, nature, culture and food…all while creating our own journey and adventure – a new set of memories I like to think of it. I was so pleasantly surprised to read this article and find that we were not the only ones who shared the need to turn off the cell phones and the computer from time to time. In this article, NYTimes columnist Pico Iyer talks about his need for quiet and how that “quiet time” helps him to provide more for his career and family. In this day, we rarely get time to reflect and disconnect. As Brooks said in Shawshank Redemption, “The world went and got itself into a big damn hurry.” It’s true.
I’m not saying that world wide connectivity is a plague. In fact, it is a great gift. Look at the information we can gather in a matter of minutes….or seconds…on anything we want to know about. My brother, who recently went to New York, told me that all he had to do was access his cell phone, turn on Yelp, search for a restaurant within a mile from the location he was standing in, GPS the location, and in no time he was enjoying a nice lunch at a highly recommended restaurant in the city. Think of the last time you looked up a telephone number, or searched customer reviews for a product or a service – you probably conducted the search online. It saved you time.
But that’s what I think a lot of us give up with staying connected – time. Time for face to face interaction. Time to really think. Time to enjoy the quiet. And that’s why I loved this article. I get excited about reading my Sunday NYTimes, curling up with a good book, the thought of gardening, making homemade pasta or taking a long walk. I find it exciting to turn off the GPS and open up an atlas or a map (yes…they still have these around) and even get lost (I didn’t say that I was good at reading them).
There is great joy to be found in a quiet environment. Though I’m sure the article may eventually expire from the NYTimes website, I hope that you take a moment to read it. If you find joy in the very thought of “quiet”, allow yourself time throughout 2012 to embrace it and disconnect – if only for a short while.
Did you know that Nebraska has a wine tour? Did you even know that Nebraska had its own wines? What a perfect road trip idea. Pack a picnic, load it in the back of the truck and drive to each destination…I wouldn’t recommend to do this all in one day – in fact, it’s probably best to break it up in like three to six months, short weekends at a time).
Log on to: http://www.nebraskawines.com/ and download the passport and map. Each winery will stamp your passport after your wine tasting so that you can keep track of the ones you’ve checked out. If you check out 15 wineries before December 31, 2010, you’ll receive a $50 gift certificate good for any winery. Visit all 31 wineries and receive a $75 gift certificate. You can also send in the passport and be entered to win a stay at a bed and breakfast, a case of Nebraska wines or a gift basket.
My in-laws did this and were able to try some fantastic wines. Hit the road and see for yourself!
Today was the perfect ending to our holiday in California. We checked out of the Silverado Resort and headed to our final winery on the trip – Artesa. (Click here to check out the windy roads that lead to Artesa). This winery was by far my favorite of all the wineries that we visited. Artesa is owned and operated by a Spanish family – and we were pleasantly surprised when we saw Temprenillo on the menu. We tried it along with five other wines – and we loved them all. This was the first winery where we walked away wanting to buy everything we tried. We settled for our top three favorite – two reds and of course a Muscat. Artesa sits way up in the mountains – so the drive was lovely. It’s off the beaten path, but we highly recommend it to any wine lovers looking to plan their own adventure in the Valley. The staff is friendly, the winery has scenic views and the wine is beyond impressive. After this winery, we traveled back to Oakland, got settled in and then went to San Francisco. We visited the ferry building, our favorite market, had lunch at Gotts (which used to be Taylor’s
Fountains at Artesa
Automatic Refresher) and walked up to Fisherman’s Wharf.
Dreyer's Ice Cream at Fisherman's Wharf
It was nice to be in San Fran again – it seemed so familiar – and we remembered exactly where to go. I think this city has become one of our favorites to visit. Jason bought me an ice cream cone at Dreyer’s, and we walked around and enjoyed the sites and sounds of the Bay area. It really could not have been more perfect.
As we end this trip, there are some thoughts and conclusions that I’d like to share.
1. It’s good to get away – for a day, for a week, or even longer. This trip was much needed for both of us. It was a brain break, and it was nice to have time to just be.
2. You don’t always have to plan. We purposely did not plan an ounce of this trip. We needed every day to wake us up and take us where we needed to be. It was nice to have life be this simple for a change.
3. It’s okay to get lost. Jason and I would not have found St. Helena had it not been for a wrong turn – or my faulty directions. Instead of seeing this as a detour, we took it as a gift to see an area that we may not have been able to see had we stuck to the course.
4. It’s refreshing to discover something new. For Jason and I, we can’t wait to go back and share our discoveries of Muscat and Moscato with friends and family. It’s a great wine, and we would not have discovered this wine without this holiday. Another thing – all of the articles I read in my Real Simple and Body and Soul magazines. They basically told me in one way or another to slow down. Life is fast, but every once in awhile, it’s important to take a step back and breathe.
5. It’s important to remember. Long after this weekend is gone, it is important to remember the moments that were created on this trip. This was partly the reason for this blog. Memories keep us alive. That’s why Jason and I live for every moment, why the weekends are so important to us, and why we so highly value these times away. Whether it’s a cookout in our backyard or a holiday across country – it all becomes a permanent part of life. I once had an old friend tell me, when you die…the one thing you have within you is your memories. You take those memories with you in the end. No one can take them away from you. There’s much truth to that. Especially when I look back on a life that is so full of fond times.
I’m so happy we were able to go on this holiday and look forward to sharing many more experiences on Carsten Road.
We got lost today. Mainly due to my directions. I looked in our tour guide for Robert Mondovi and saw an address right underneath the name of the winery. Well, it wasn’t the address for Robert – but instead a winery about 20 mi away from it. That’s okay – the drive became very scenic and took us into downtown St. Helena where we found Woodhouse Chocolate – a chocolate boutique that I really wanted to go to. I saw the write-up featured in Victoria magazine and had to give it a try. Their chocolates were quite divine – a bit on the expensive side. Obviously not the kind of candies that you pop in your mouth – these are chocolates that you’ll want to savor. The shapes of each truffle are beautiful and very intricately designed. The store looks like something out of a French boutique in Paris. It was very quaint and the staff was fantastic. Our next stop was Robert Mondovi…or as it was known on our trip – Bobby Mondovi – and better yet – Bobby Mo (the name became more interesting as the wine tasting went on). Robert Mondovi is the powerhouse of Napa Valley, with over 500 acres at the one location (they have a total of three in the U.S.). In fact, it was Robert Mondovi himself that invented the “wine tasting.” He decided to have samplings of his wine and all of the other vineyards and wineries began to follow along. All of the wines were fantastic, but we walked away with yet another Moscato – of course! We can’t seem to get away from loving this wine. We also bought fancy olive dipping oil. I very much enjoyed Robert Mondovi – it was a very upscale winery.
We ended our night at Sushi Mambo – a very hip little sushi restaurant in downtown Napa. It was yummy and a perfect way to end our last evening in Napa Valley. Tomorrow – we head to Oakland and maybe we’ll stop in San Francisco and find our favorite pier.
Check out these links below for more raw footage from our trip to Robert Mondovi and more…
Jason and I started the morning with a homemade chicken sausage omelet with fruit, biscuits and mimosas that we prepared in our cottage and then headed out to our first winery of the day – Black Stallion. Every time we tour a wine region, we always fall in love with a specialty wine. In Missouri, we love the Vingnoles. In Napa, we love the Muscat. This is a wine that we’ve found to be a very popular wine of Napa Valley. It’s a white wine, very fruity, and it will be a perfect chilled wine for summer days out on the deck and BBQs. We bought a few bottles of Muscat and then traveled on to our next stop – V. Sattui. V Sattui is a winery that does not sell regionally – they only sell from the winery. You won’t find V. Sattui in stores, and that may be a good thing. Its vintage French charm is not something you’ll want to miss if you come to the Valley. Jason and I had a picnic lunch there and shopped in its artesian deli for dinner fixings. The wines were fantastic – and we found yet another one we loved. Right along with the Muscat, they also had a wine called Moscato Fizzante. It has the same fruity notes as Muscat but with the fizzazzle of a champagne. We fell in love with this one too and bought a few to take home to enjoy. We ended our tour at Mumm Napa Winery. This winery is more specific to champagnes. Jason tried a brut and I tried a Cuvee. We decided on a bottle of the Cuvee. It’s interesting that we are buying more whites than reds. Though we are red drinkers (and more specifically temprenillo wine drinkers), we always seem to do more whites when we go on wine tours. This may be a good thing with the summer months ahead. Nothing beats a chilled white wine on a warm day.
Tonight, we rented It’s Complicated and had pasta, salad, cheese and olive oil bread that we found at the V. Sattui market. It was a perfect ending to a day well spent. Tomorrow – we have two more wineries and may venture out to Sonoma. We’ll see what adventure awaits us.
RANDOM VIDEO FROM NAPA VALLEY (Check out the links below for some random footage of our holiday in Napa)
Today we arrived in Napa Valley -full of rolling hills and cute kitchy cottages snuggled among acres of grapevines. The drive to the Silverado Resort was very scenic. It’s a beautiful country club that sits on 1,200 acres. We rode to our one-bedroom cottage in an E-Z-GO golf car (E-Z-GO happens to be a client of mine, so of course I started conversation with the groundsman). The cottage is quite lovely – fireplace, full kitchen, bedroom, living room, outside patio. When we arrived to our room, we had Domaine Ste Michelle champagne on ice to celebrate our 11 years of being together. It was a very nice touch. Jason and I didn’t do much venturing out today, but we did have a nice little lunch in Yountville and then got some groceries for breakfast in the morning, did some reading, took a nap, looked at wine maps and ventured into Downtown Napa.
Today is the start of really slowing down – which we intend to do for the rest of the week. We are not planning anything for the rest of the trip – it’s mainly what we want to do day to day. This is nice. As a planner, I’m always worried about what is going to happen the next day. I think this tends to wear on the soul over time – why worry. Life will happen. We don’t always have the privilege of living this way – but this week, we are going to make a conscience effort to try.
Tomorrow – wine tasting and maybe a picnic lunch. We shall see.
L.A. has been the most fun of our holiday so far, thanks to Uncle Ron and his fabulous hospitality. We started the day in Rodeo Drive – it was a sunny 81 degrees and perfect for walking around. After window browsing (and a little actual shopping damage), we went to Melrose and then Hollywood and visited the Chinese Theatre, Kodak Theatre and walk of fame. We found the perfect boutique restaurant for a lite bite and sat next to who I swear was a Sarah Jessica Parker double. I had to do about ten double takes to make sure that it was not her. It wasn’t. But, if this woman wasn’t a Parker double, she was definitely missing her calling. We cruised Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd and walked around the stores and Farmer’s Market area at The Grove. We did a quick change in the car and headed over to Lawry’s. For those who have never witnessed a Lawry’s – I do have to say that it is worth a stop if you love prime rib. The wait staff cut and prepared each dish at our table. The Lawry’s cut is fantastic – comes with a salad and potato and a la carte items like spinach, corn, etc. You will not walk away hungry that’s for sure. The wait staff makes the whole experience lively and pleasant. We ended our night with an evening drive through Palos Verdes – a hilltop community overlooking the ocean. It was so scenic and a lovely way to end the evening.
Today was another relaxing day in Vegas. Got a great workout in and headed to the pool in the afternoon. It was great pool weather – about 83 degrees. Caught up with my Real Simple and Body + Soul magazines and tried to work on the tan (or lack there of). It was nice not to have anything major planned and have a day based on R&R. Jason and I had a fantastic stir-fry noodle and seafood dish at the Venetian – however, nothing beat Chipotle across the street. Shopped at Sephora and wore my new Coach scarf. Good times.
The only downfall today was the cigarette smoke. It felt like everyone around me was smoking, which wasn’t very pleasant. Vegas should consider making total non-smoking casinos and hotels. If they did, I bet they’d make a killing.
Time to rehash Carsten Road – a more simple life. There’s nothing like taking a little adventure and holiday to welcome the warmer temperatures of spring and relax the mind from the typical day-to-day of work and home. Jason and I have quite the week’s journey ahead and are excited to share some of the sights and sounds of our trip. Day 1: Viva Las Vegas Baby. We arrived at 8 a.m. this morning in the city that never sleeps. Sat next to a guy on the plane who was a choreographer for ballet and dance. Very interesting man with many stories and photos to share of his younger days. Some people have a tendency to be at the right place at the right time – and this man, whether it was his contageous love for dance and the arts or simply his willingness to share that love, seemed to start my early morning off right. Really cool guy.
When Jason and I arrived in Vegas, it was a lot of waiting and lines (Vegas gets hopping pretty early). We finally settled down for breakfast, got our room and took a 2 1/2 hour nap – now that’s what I call vacation!
Vegas was beautiful today – We did a lot of walking, sight-seeing and window shopping. The greatest treat was running into Serendipity III. This is a very famous boutique restaurant in NYC that has been frequented by movie stars, artists and other Manhattanites. Marilyn Monroe, Jackie O, Andy Warhol and others have been regulars at the restaurant. I’ve read about it in so many of my fashion books that I have always wanted to try the place – and most specifically – try it for its frozen hot chocolate – a drink that is supposed to be a favorite by many. We tried it out – the Vegas version anyway. The frozen hot chocolate certainly lived up to my chocolate expectations that’s for sure! It was amazing. I grabbed a few chocolate mixes to enjoy and share back at home. We had a great lunch – sat outside – and it was truly the highlight of my day.
The second highlight was the Bellagio Fountain , which is always a treat! Jason and I watched the fountain dance to John Barry’s “Somewhere in Time”. It was stunning. The fountain has never disappointed me. It seems to take our breath away – even watching it for the 100th time. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gB1y5X-j9A
Won $30 at The Paris and decided to buy a Coach scarf as a reward.
All in all, it was truly was a great start to an adventurous week ahead. More to come…
carsten road - a more simple life. 
